@Robert_Goldman Robert, thank you for all of your work and input to AFV Club on the IDF kits. Much appreciated. My favorite IDF AFV included.
Humor FWIW - I’ve had a well meaning but entirely clueless IPMS member come and say the exhaust weathering my M1A1 was wrong. When shown wartime pictures of an M1A1 in a publication with same exhaust, listened to him try to argue the actual tank pictured was wrong and he was right. 
How hard is it to say, “I stand corrected” or “Well I just learned something new”?
It’s kind of hard to do the proper pronunciation without being able to send like a voice clip. But let’s see if I can get this right using voice to text. Merkava. Mer,ka VA all together now… 
The more one has learned and know
the easier it will be to be happy when learning something new
My Rule #1 is build and finish your model as you see fit. Do what you want.
As far as chipping goes, I agree chipping is very overdone by some modelers. My personal experience however with M113s is, when I was in Germany our vehicles were painted in the MERDC scheme minus the sand color. They were is very good shape. I never saw any rust but there were a few scratches here and there. When I went back to Fort Benning in ‘87, our vehicles were in NATO scheme and had some heavy chipping on the top side only around the hatches. It was down to bare aluminum in a few small spots mostly around the rim of the hatches from guys throwing ammo boxes up there and sliding them around. I remember that vividly. I swear there was about a 1/16 of an inch if not more of previous paint jobs showing. It was also around some of the various fittings like the Dragon mount etc.
As far as modeling products, use what you want. I was using oil washes and dry brushing lightly with them up til a few years ago. I have some of the products from AK , MiG etc and they are excellent.
Steve, I feel the same way about the colors seemingly very dark while on the tables. It could also be the poor lighting at some show venues. I usually lighten my dark colors like OD and German grey just a tiny bit with some dark yellow.
Anyway, just my 2 cents….
Having just finished a Dragon Panzer IV DAK, here is an interesting pic. For discussion purposes only:
Is that paint peeling off the right side? And down in front by the access hatches. Looks like some kind of grease or lubricant on the gun barrel.
DAK vehicles were not seldom painted over in situ. A sloppy job, dubious quality of the paint plus the abrasive nature of (desert) sand, was a guaranteed recipe for bladdering paint, showing he factory paint below. The original paint was, however of a much better quality. That didn’t come off so easily, but then again: a sandstorm was like sandblasting. Every paint would come off eventually…
I think it’s a great picture to illustrate desert weathering.
Very interesting, after studying the photo and coming up with my own conclusions I was about to scroll down and offer my comment . . apparently Erwin @golikell and I are on the exact same page word for word. Cool.
Cajun 
Long distance telepathy? 
Great minds 
Cajun
I’m just noticing now upon closer inspection, but looks like an Africa Korps palm insignia on the right side of the square plate that goes around the bow machine gun. It’s very faint. And possibly some chipping along the edge of the plate, maybe.
Ther is a palm visible indeed… 
A sure sign of a DAK vehicle 
Maybe next you can give a lesson on Tamiya.
Tamiya… lol they don’t use people like me. They send an employee to spend every waking hour taking pictures and measurements of the subject. When they did the Tiran and the M51 kits the guy lived in the barracks of the base at latrun and ate with the troops for over a month.
No, I didn’t mean that. They’ve never used me either. (About the only well known company that hasn’t) I meant a lesson on how to pronounce Tamiya.
Darnit they don’t ever use me either . . .
Cajun 
Tom, it was me who posted that; it was at a model show some way back at Milton Keynes. At the time I was a member of Salisbury Modelling club, and we duly trekked up to MK to exhibit. A club member was a fellow serving Warrant Officer, in the Army Air Corps, and his models were exquisite renditions of the aircraft he’d worked on and flown in.
I was actually there when the anorak-wearing punter rocked up; studied the models extensively, and with a great sigh (why do they always sigh? Is it due to the shedding of the burden of the pearls of wisdom they’re about to dispense?), and quoth, "I think you’ll find that the (whatever it was - I’m no Lynx expert) wasn’t fitted to that particular aircraft. And that’s when Tony said those immortal words, “Well, it was there yesterday when I flew it”.
Dear God, don’t you just love it?
About chipping, fading, bla,bla,bla… All these techniques had lead to the fact that in contests are almost mandatory to make them to get a prize. Besides, the manufacturers (who promote the use of such products) usually have stands in the contests.
I’m very sorry that when judging the works, they look more at these details that the fidelity with the real one. For example (a crazy one): Oh, look that Abrams, how much chipping has and it looks so good!!
This is my thought about those techniques and the contests in Spain. I don’t mean I don’t use it, but I try to match the model kit with the real one I’m working on.
Totally agree!
Too many “fantasy” builds out there
